1 Kings 20
1 And Ben-Hadad king of Aram hath gathered all his force, and thirty and two kings [are] with him, and horse and chariot, and he goeth up and layeth siege against Samaria, and fighteth with it,
Ben-hadad, king of Aram, called up his entire army. Together with thirty-two kings and their assembled horses and chariots, he marched to besiege Samaria, to fight against it.
2 and sendeth messengers unto Ahab king of Israel, to the city,
He sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, in the city to tell him, “This is what Ben-hadad says:
3 and saith to him, 'Thus said Ben-Hadad, 'Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and thy wives and thy sons — the best — are mine.'
Your silver and gold belong to me now, and your best wives and children also belong to me!”
4 And the king of Israel answereth and saith, 'According to thy word, my lord, O king: I [am] thine, and all that I have.'
“It's as you say, my lord the king,” the king of Israel replied. “I am yours, as well as everything that belongs to me.”
5 And the messengers turn back and say, 'Thus spake Ben-Hadad, saying, Surely I sent unto thee, saying, Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy sons, to me thou dost give;
The messengers returned and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: I have sent you a message demanding you give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.
6 for if, at this time to-morrow, I send my servants unto thee then they have searched thy house, and the houses of thy servants, and it hath been, every desirable thing of thine eyes they place in their hand, and have taken away.'
But around this time tomorrow I'm going to send my men to search your palace and the homes of your officials. They will take and carry away everything you see as valuable.”
7 And the king of Israel calleth to all the elders of the land, and saith, 'Know, I pray you, and see that evil this [one] is seeking, for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I withheld not from him.'
The king of Israel called all the elders of the land and told them, “Look how this man is trying to cause trouble! When he demanded my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, I didn't say no.”
8 And all the elders and all the people say unto him, 'Do not hearken, nor consent.'
All the elders and all the people present responded, “Don't listen to him. Don't agree to his demands.”
9 And he saith to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, 'Say to my lord the king, All that thou didst send for unto thy servant at the first I do, and this thing I am not able to do;' and the messengers go and take him back word.
So the king told Ben-hadad's messengers, “Tell my lord the king: Everything you demanded at first your servant will do, but I cannot agree to this latest demand.” The messengers took the reply back to him.
10 And Ben-Hadad sendeth unto him, and saith, 'Thus do the gods to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who [are] at my feet.'
Ben-hadad responded to him, “May the gods do as much to me and more if there remains enough dust in Samaria to give my subjects a handful each!”
11 And the king of Israel answereth and saith, 'Speak ye: let not him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing [his armour].'
The king of Israel replied, “Tell him this: A man putting on his armor should not brag like one who is taking it off.”
12 And it cometh to pass at the hearing of this word — and he is drinking, he and the kings, in the booths — that he saith unto his servants, 'Set yourselves;' and they set themselves against the city.
Ben-hadad received this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents. He immediately gave the order to his officers, “Get ready to attack!” So they prepared to attack the city.
13 And lo, a certain prophet hath come nigh unto Ahab king of Israel, and saith, 'Thus said Jehovah, 'Hast thou seen all this great multitude? lo, I am giving it into thy hand to-day, and thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.'
At the same time a prophet came up to Ahab, king of Israel, and told him, “This is what the Lord says: You see this massive army? Just watch, because I will make you victorious today, and you will be convinced that I am the Lord.”
14 And Ahab saith, 'By whom?' and he saith, 'Thus said Jehovah, By the young men of the heads of the provinces;' and he saith, 'Who doth direct the battle?' and he saith, 'Thou.'
“But who's going to do this?” Ahab asked. The prophet answered, “This is what the Lord says: It will be the young officers under the district commanders.” “And who's going to start the battle?” he asked. The prophet replied, “You are!”
15 And he inspecteth the young men of the heads of the provinces, and they are two hundred, two and thirty, and after them he hath inspecteth the whole of the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand,
So Ahab called up the 232 young officers of the district commanders, and assembled the 7,000 soldiers that made up Israel's army.
16 and they go out at noon, and Ben-Hadad is drinking — drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings, helping him.
They left at noon while Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings with him were busy getting drunk in their tents.
17 And the young men of the heads of the provinces go out at the first, and Ben-Hadad sendeth, and they declare to him, saying, 'Men have come out of Samaria.'
The young officers of the district commanders took the lead. The scouts Ben-hadad had sent out came and reported to him, “Enemy soldiers are advancing from Samaria.”
18 And he saith, 'If for peace they have come out — catch them alive; and if for battle they have come out — alive catch them.'
“If they're coming in peace, take them alive,” he ordered. “If they're coming to attack, take them alive.”
19 And these have gone out of the city — the young men of the heads of the provinces — and the force that [is] after them,
The young officers of the district commanders advanced from the city, followed by the army.
20 and smite each his man, and Aram fleeth, and Israel pursueth them, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram escapeth on a horse, and the horsemen;
Each man killed his opponent, and the Arameans ran away. The Israelites chased them, but Ben-hadad, king of Aram, escaped on horseback with his cavalry.
21 and the king of Israel goeth out, and smiteth the horses, and the charioteers, and hath smitten among the Aramaeans a great smiting.
Then the king of Israel came out and attacked the horses and chariots. He inflicted a great defeat on the Arameans.
22 And the prophet cometh nigh unto the king of Israel, and saith to him, 'Go, strengthen thyself, and know and see that which thou dost, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against thee.'
Later on the prophet came to the king of Israel and told him, “Go and reinforce your defenses, and check what you need to do, because in the spring the king of Aram will come and attack you again.”
23 And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, 'Gods of hills [are] their gods, therefore they were stronger than we; and yet, we fight with them in the plain — are we not stronger than they?
In the meantime the king of Aram's officers told him, “Their gods are gods of the mountains. That's why they could defeat us. But if we fight them in the lowlands, we can beat them.
24 'And this thing do thou: turn aside the kings each out of his place, and set captains in their stead;
You should do this: remove each of the kings from their positions and replace them with commanders.
25 and thou, number to thee a force as the force that is fallen from thee, and horse for horse, and chariot for chariot, and we fight with them in the plain; are we not stronger than they?' and he hearkeneth to their voice, and doth so.
You also have to raise another army to replace the one you lost—horse for horse, chariot for chariot. Then we can fight them in the lowlands and we will definitely beat them.” Ben-hadad listened to their advice and did as they said.
26 And it cometh to pass at the turn of the year, that Ben-Hadad inspecteth the Aramaeans, and goeth up to Aphek, to battle with Israel,
When spring came Ben-hadad called up the Aramean army and went to attack Israel at Aphek.
27 and the sons of Israel have been inspected, and supported, and go to meet them, and the sons of Israel encamp before them, like two flocks of goats, and the Aramaeans have filled the land.
The Israelite army was also called up and provided with supplies. They went to confront the Arameans. But when the Israelites set up their camp opposite the enemy they looked like couple of flocks of goats in comparison with the Aramean army that filled the whole land.
28 And there cometh nigh a man of God, and speaketh unto the king of Israel, and saith, 'Thus said Jehovah, Because that the Aramaeans have said, God of hills [is] Jehovah, and He [is] not God of valleys — I have given the whole of this great multitude into thy hand, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.'
Then the man of God came to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: Because the Arameans have said, ‘The Lord is only a god of the mountains and not of the valleys,’ I will make you victorious over the whole of this massive army. Then you will be convinced that I am the Lord.”
29 And they encamp one over-against another seven days, and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the battle draweth near, and the sons of Israel smite Aram — a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
The armies camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle took place. The Israelites killed 100,000 of the Aramean infantry in one day.
30 And those left flee to Aphek, unto the city, and the wall falleth on twenty and seven chief men who are left, and Ben-Hadad hath fled, and cometh in unto the city, into the innermost part.
The rest ran away to the town of Aphek, where a wall collapsed on 27,000 of those that remained. Ben-hadad also ran to the town and hid in an inside room.
31 And his servants say unto him, 'Lo, we pray thee, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel — that they are kind kings; let us put, we pray thee, sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and we go out unto the king of Israel; it may be he doth keep thee alive.'
Ben-hadad's officers said to him, “Look, we've heard that the Israelite kings are merciful. Let's surrender to the king of Israel, wearing sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads. Maybe he will let you live.”
32 And they gird sackcloth on their loins, and ropes [are] on their heads, and they come in unto the king of Israel, and say, 'Thy servant Ben-Hadad hath said, Let me live, I pray thee;' and he saith, 'Is he yet alive? he [is] my brother.'
So wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads, they went and surrendered to the king of Israel, and told him, “Your servant Ben-hadad asks, ‘Please let me live.’” The king replied “Is he still alive? I think of him as my brother.”
33 And the men observe diligently, and hasten, and catch it from him, and say, 'Thy brother Ben-Hadad;' and he saith, 'Go ye in, bring him;' and Ben-Hadad cometh out unto him, and he causeth him to come up on the chariot.
The men thought this was a good sign and they immediately took the king at his word, saying, “Yes, Ben-hahad is your brother.” “Go and fetch him!” said the king. So Ben-hadad came out of hiding and surrendered to Ahab, who pulled him up into his chariot.
34 And he saith unto him, 'The cities that my father took from thy father, I give back, and streets thou dost make for thee in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria;' — 'and I, with a covenant, send thee away;' and he maketh with him a covenant, and sendeth him away.
Ben-hadad said to him, “I will return the towns my father took from your father, and you can organize your own places for trade in Damascus, like my father did in Samaria.” “By making this agreement I set you free,” Ahab replied. He made a treaty with Ben-hadad and let him go.
35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour by the word of Jehovah, 'Smite me, I pray thee;' and the man refuseth to smite him,
Following a message he received from the Lord, one of the sons of the prophets said to his colleague, “Please hit me.” But the man refused to hit him.
36 and he saith to him, 'Because that thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, lo, thou art going from me, and the lion hath smitten thee;' and he goeth from him, and the lion findeth him, and smiteth him.
So the prophet told him, “Since you have not done what the Lord said, once you leave me a lion is going to kill you.” When the man left, a lion came and killed him.
37 And he findeth another man, and saith, 'Smite me, I pray thee;' and the man smiteth him, smiting and wounding,
The prophet found another man and said, “Please hit me!” So the man hit him, wounding him.
38 and the prophet goeth and standeth for the king on the way, and disguiseth himself with ashes on his eyes.
Then the prophet went and stood beside the road, waiting for the king. He had disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.
39 And it cometh to pass — the king is passing by — that he hath cried unto the king, and saith, 'Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle, and lo, a man hath turned aside and bringeth in unto me a man, and saith, Keep this man; if he be at all missing, then hath thy life been for his life, or a talent of silver thou dost weigh out;
As the king was passing by, he shouted out to the king: “Your servant had gone out fighting right in the middle of the battle, when all of a sudden a man came over with a prisoner and told me, ‘Guard this man! If for any reason he escapes, you will pay for his life with your life, or you will be fined a talent of silver.’
40 and it cometh to pass, thy servant is working hither and thither, and he is not!' and the king of Israel saith unto him, Right [is] thy judgment; thou hast determined [it].'
But while your servant was busy with other things, the man got away.” “So that will be your punishment then,” the king of Israel told him. “You have sentenced yourself.”
41 And he hasteth and turneth aside the ashes from off his eyes, and the king of Israel discerneth him, that he [is] of the prophets,
Then the prophet quickly took off the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized he was one of the prophets.
42 and he saith unto him, 'Thus said Jehovah, Because thou hast sent away the man I devoted, out of [thy] hand, even thy life hath been for his life, and thy people for his people;'
He told the king, “This is what the Lord says: You have let go a man I had decided should die. Therefore you will pay for his life with your life, your people for his people.”
43 and the king of Israel goeth unto his house, sulky and wroth, and cometh in to Samaria.
The king of Israel went home to Samaria, sulking and infuriated.
